Gamified Apps: Habitica

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Gamification is an amazing concept that enables people to develop their learning abilities and encourages them to make changes for the better. Sometimes, these changes deal with getting daily tasks done on time, something that Habitica will definitely help you achieve.

Habitica is a mobile application that helps you develop the daily habits you’ve always wanted. Whether it’s something menial like doing the dishes, the laundry or walking your dog, or something that will help you with your personal development (reading, running, working, etc.), Habitica provides a fun, interactive experience.

When you first launch Habitica (on either iOS or Android), you are greeted by a short tutorial which briefly explains how the app works. After registering, you get the chance to personalize your avatar and choose from a couple of 8-bit features such as skin color, hairstyle and outfit. Then, you are asked to select which areas of your life you want to improve (Work, Exercise, Healh Fitness, School, Teams, Chores, Creativity). The choices you make will only influence the example tasks you start off with, so don’t worry too much about them at this stage.

Habits, Dailies, To-Dos

There are 3 categories of tasks you can create that will help you grow personally and/or professionally: Habits, Dailies and To-Dos.

Habits are things you would like to do more often, like eating fruits or vegetables, or activities you would like to stop doing, like taking the elevator, drinking or smoking. You can set habits to or -, depending on the effect they have on you (fruits are a plus, beers are a minus).

Dailies are goals you set for yourself on a daily basis, like reading for 1 hour, working out for 30 minutes, spending quality time with your family, and so forth. You can also create sub-daily tasks. For example, in “Spend time with family” you can have 2 subtasks: “Spend time with mom” and “Spend time with dad”. All of these can be programmed on a basis of your choosing (weekly or each and every set number of days).

For To-Dos, you can set a due date (if the task has one) and create a task checklist (similar to the Daily one). The difference is that when you mark a To-Do as done, it disappears, unlike Dailies which are just grayed out when finished.

Both Dailies and To-Dos can be labeled according to their level of difficulty (Trivial, Easy, Medium, Hard) and the time of day when they have to be completed (morning, afternoon, evening).

In case you are the forgetful type, all of the tasks also feature personalized reminders that you can easily schedule.

Whenever you modify a habit or complete a daily task or to-do, you get rewarded with gold and experience. Gold can be used to buy better equipment for your character and experience allows you to level-up. You can even create your own rewards, such as “1 Beer”, “1 hour of Video Games” or “1 Slice of pizza” and purchase them with the gold you’ve earned. Just make sure you set their prices accordingly.

Taverns, Parties and Quests

In the main (hamburger) menu, you can access the social side of Habitica (Inbox, Tavern, Party, Guilds) and also customise your character’s inventory, appearance, pets and mounts. In the Tavern, you can also pause your Dailies in case you are on vacation or otherwise unable to get them done.

If you have a couple of friends with whom you share similar goals (for example running, working out or cooking), you can create a Party, go on Quests and fight bosses together. Just FYI, if you don’t finish one of your tasks, the Boss damages everybody, so try not to disappoint your friends!

When you reach level 10, you will be able to choose from 4 character classes, which will better cater to your playstyle: Warrior, Mage, Healer and Rogue. You will also gain access to pets and mounts as you complete quests and gain more experience.

Bonuses and Closing Thoughts

Habitica’s additional features that immerse you even more in the amazing pixel-art experience are The Habitica Blog and The Habitica Browser Extention. One keeps you updated on the latest news, the other helps you avoid unproductive websites.

A very interesting alternative to a classic to do list, Habitica is something worth checking out. It pulls on the heartstrings of people with former gaming experience (whether it be casual or hardcore) while also being easy to understand and pick up by people with no gaming background. The app offers a complex task system which everyone can personalise to their own management style. We believe that, if people invest enough time in making the experience their own, they could really take their goals to the next level (pun intended).

We loved experiencing Habitica and writing this article. If you enjoyed reading it and found it useful, share it with your friends on either Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Thank you!

P.S: Find out more about Gamified Apps by reading this article on a fitness application which blends gamification elements with workout routines. It’s called Fitocracy and you can try it out for free.